Though we seem continually to be plagued by cool nor’easterlies, Tuesday was mostly bright and sunny, and warm when out of those breezes, so perhaps it was that warmth that brought out the Toads, in greater numbers than I’ve ever seen in one place before. I counted more than 50 in the two small dipping ponds at Cosmeston and I’m sure even more were hiding beneath the weeds and amongst the reeds.

These warty beasties all had one thing on their mind: mating! If the smaller males weren’t already latched on to the backs of the large females, then they were searching for whoever might still be available.

Apparently, Toads return to the pond in which they were conceived so these little amphibians may well have been migrating from their hibernation sites back to these ponds in the evenings for the past couple of weeks. Judging by the many long strings of Toad spawn, their trip was well worth the effort, and the development of the next generation has now well and truly begun.